Swan (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} queenostara) wrote,@ 2009-02-19 20:42:00 |
|
"I want to save your life"
Anyone seen the commercials yet? It's something that's going to be on WE. I can't find a video online of the commercial but basically it's a reality show and the commercial shows a girl coming out of a food joint with a hot dog (she looks to be only a little chubby to me to begin with, mind you) and this 'diet detective' in his car writes something down on his paper... then the I WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE title comes up...
My rant about this:
This is probably the biggest issue I have with fat prejudice. It's people who say, "I get disgusted when I see a fat person eating at a fast food restaurant." Those who say they have an issue with anyone eating things that are bad for them I respect a little bit more, at least they just want (or at least say they want, though I'd still wager it's a more cleverly disguised way of exposing their fat hate) people to eat more healthfully, which is not intrinsically bad. The thing is, WHY is it so taboo to see a fat person eat "bad" food? Unless you know how that person eats every single day of their life (in which case you must either be a close friend, roommate, SO, or family member... or a stalker) you cannot based on that one instance assume that woman is just a little rounder than you because she always drives (of course she drives! fat women don't walk!) to the hot dog shop EVARY DAY. We all learned about the food pyramid in grade school and we all got the schpeal about how fats are fine, and actually something your body needs, just not in excess. So WHY the HELL is this woman who most likely probably eats pretty sensibly most of the time getting trashed for eating ONE fucking hot dog? Is that ONE hot dog really going to make her so so SO much fatter? Is that ONE hot dog going to lead her down the "OMG SHE'S EATING EVERYTHING!!!11" path for the rest of her life? I really doubt it. This is the big problem I've always had with fat-phobia, is that one "bad" choice MUST necessarily denote a whole slew of "bad" choices and that one either eats well or eats poorly, there is no middle ground. Aside from the fact that it's absurd, I'm damn certain it's what leads to a lot of binging so common among people who diet regularly because if they've already "ruined" a "good" day the thinking is they may as well throw the whole day out the window. Not true. But thanks to our fucked up society, enough of us think it is to keep the weight watchers gurus getting fat (lol) off our suffering. I can't know how others have thought, but seeing as whole books have been written on the guilt women feel after indulging themselves and ruining a "good" day and thereafter falling into a binge, I'm going to take a stab at saying that I'm not the only one who's had several issues with this kind of destructive thinking.
Forget the fact that true self control means moderation and allowing oneself regular treats so as to not later go overboard, forget that moderation includes allowing oneself to have "bad" days every so often. Maybe as often as two or three times a week (maybe more). No no, forget all that. If you eat a hot dog, you fail. Go to the gym, fattie. And skip dinner while you're at it.
And on top of that, even if this woman isn't practicing true moderation, even if on the off chance the diet detective is lucky enough to score mostly women who either do treat their bodies poorly or women who are confused and self-hating enough to be convinced they MUST be treating their bodies poorly SO FUCKING WHAT? Even if all of everything the half crazed exercise instructors and anorexic "nutritionists" and out of whack BMI charts is true and people who eat hot dogs are killing themselves were true SO WHAT? Nobody has the authority to tell someone else to put down that hot dog, to instead go for the broccoli, etc. Let the woman enjoy a hot dog for fuck's sake.
/end rant
Anyone seen the commercials yet? It's something that's going to be on WE. I can't find a video online of the commercial but basically it's a reality show and the commercial shows a girl coming out of a food joint with a hot dog (she looks to be only a little chubby to me to begin with, mind you) and this 'diet detective' in his car writes something down on his paper... then the I WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE title comes up...
My rant about this:
This is probably the biggest issue I have with fat prejudice. It's people who say, "I get disgusted when I see a fat person eating at a fast food restaurant." Those who say they have an issue with anyone eating things that are bad for them I respect a little bit more, at least they just want (or at least say they want, though I'd still wager it's a more cleverly disguised way of exposing their fat hate) people to eat more healthfully, which is not intrinsically bad. The thing is, WHY is it so taboo to see a fat person eat "bad" food? Unless you know how that person eats every single day of their life (in which case you must either be a close friend, roommate, SO, or family member... or a stalker) you cannot based on that one instance assume that woman is just a little rounder than you because she always drives (of course she drives! fat women don't walk!) to the hot dog shop EVARY DAY. We all learned about the food pyramid in grade school and we all got the schpeal about how fats are fine, and actually something your body needs, just not in excess. So WHY the HELL is this woman who most likely probably eats pretty sensibly most of the time getting trashed for eating ONE fucking hot dog? Is that ONE hot dog really going to make her so so SO much fatter? Is that ONE hot dog going to lead her down the "OMG SHE'S EATING EVERYTHING!!!11" path for the rest of her life? I really doubt it. This is the big problem I've always had with fat-phobia, is that one "bad" choice MUST necessarily denote a whole slew of "bad" choices and that one either eats well or eats poorly, there is no middle ground. Aside from the fact that it's absurd, I'm damn certain it's what leads to a lot of binging so common among people who diet regularly because if they've already "ruined" a "good" day the thinking is they may as well throw the whole day out the window. Not true. But thanks to our fucked up society, enough of us think it is to keep the weight watchers gurus getting fat (lol) off our suffering. I can't know how others have thought, but seeing as whole books have been written on the guilt women feel after indulging themselves and ruining a "good" day and thereafter falling into a binge, I'm going to take a stab at saying that I'm not the only one who's had several issues with this kind of destructive thinking.
Forget the fact that true self control means moderation and allowing oneself regular treats so as to not later go overboard, forget that moderation includes allowing oneself to have "bad" days every so often. Maybe as often as two or three times a week (maybe more). No no, forget all that. If you eat a hot dog, you fail. Go to the gym, fattie. And skip dinner while you're at it.
And on top of that, even if this woman isn't practicing true moderation, even if on the off chance the diet detective is lucky enough to score mostly women who either do treat their bodies poorly or women who are confused and self-hating enough to be convinced they MUST be treating their bodies poorly SO FUCKING WHAT? Even if all of everything the half crazed exercise instructors and anorexic "nutritionists" and out of whack BMI charts is true and people who eat hot dogs are killing themselves were true SO WHAT? Nobody has the authority to tell someone else to put down that hot dog, to instead go for the broccoli, etc. Let the woman enjoy a hot dog for fuck's sake.
/end rant
